Vista does not boot after memory upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lamy
  • Start date Start date
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Lamy

I have a system runnung Vista, XP and Ubuntu. Now I replaced the
memory from 2 Gb before to 4 GB DDR2 now. After this Vista is not
starting successfully anymore. During boot process it restarts the
computer. Booting in safemode the last loaded driver shown is
crcdisk.sys before the system restarts.

Windows XP and Ubuntu are running without any problem, HDD check shows
no error, even Windows Memory Diagnostics is runnung without reporting
any problem. If I change the RAM back to my old 2 GB also Vista is
starting again. But with 4 GB it will not.

Any idea what I can do?

Kind Regards
Lamy



My system:
Mainboard:GigaByte 945GM-S2
Memory: MDT DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 Kit
-> Kit 2x2048MB MDT DDR2 800MHz CL5
Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD
Drive:DVD-RW NEC ND-4570
Grafic:MSI NX7900GS-T2D256EZ
 
Open a free Microsoft support request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&prid=10300&gprid=436974


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

I have a system runnung Vista, XP and Ubuntu. Now I replaced the
memory from 2 Gb before to 4 GB DDR2 now. After this Vista is not
starting successfully anymore. During boot process it restarts the
computer. Booting in safemode the last loaded driver shown is
crcdisk.sys before the system restarts.

Windows XP and Ubuntu are running without any problem, HDD check shows
no error, even Windows Memory Diagnostics is runnung without reporting
any problem. If I change the RAM back to my old 2 GB also Vista is
starting again. But with 4 GB it will not.

Any idea what I can do?

Kind Regards
Lamy



My system:
Mainboard:GigaByte 945GM-S2
Memory: MDT DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 Kit
-> Kit 2x2048MB MDT DDR2 800MHz CL5
Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD
Drive:DVD-RW NEC ND-4570
Grafic:MSI NX7900GS-T2D256EZ
 
The fact that you encounter the same problem with Ubuntu and Vista pretty
much rules the OS out as the cause of the issue. That leaves 2 things:
Mainboard and RAM
Since the system is stable with your old RAM, the new becomes the suspect.
What brand is it and what are the listed memory timings? (Will look like
2/2/2 or 3/3/3 or some permutation like that)
You might check you BIOS memory settings to see if they are set at higher
(lower numbers) than your new RAM is designed for. Your machine may not be
autodetecting the speeds.
To research more, consider raising the CAS latency in BIOS one step to see
if the error recurs.
Myself? I would just return the RAM and try a different brand. I have seen
RAM with a bad module before and find it is just not worth screwing with.
 
The fact that you encounter the same problem with Ubuntu and Vista
pretty much rules the OS out as the cause of the issue. That leaves 2
things: Mainboard and RAM
Click to expand...

That is not what was said.....

"Windows XP and Ubuntu are running without any problem, HDD check shows
no error, even Windows Memory Diagnostics is runnung without reporting
any problem. If I change the RAM back to my old 2 GB also Vista is
starting again. But with 4 GB it will not."
 
If you are using 4x1GB then you may be encountering what I call the "fourth
damn dimm" problem in Vista, although that usually only shows up using Vista
x64. It is a hardware problem. Vista is more demanding than XP or Ubuntu
but it is still the hardware.

Try increasing the dram voltage by 0.1v. If you are using 800 memory then
try reducing to 667. The difference could be the chipset driver for Vista
as opposed to the chipset drivers for the other OSs on your mobo. Also,
there is a patch from MS that you can install while running in 2GB that will
permit you to then install and run the 4GB in some cases. I haven't needed
it so I don't have a link. I have seen it on the MSI website in my scanning
of websites.

It goes without saying that the new ram has to match the old, particularly
the latencies.
 
Ah - My mistake....I read too much into his post. With Vista, XP and Ubuntu
the 2 gigs work fine, but with the 4 gigs, only Vista is screwing up, XP and
Ubuntu run fine (oh god, there are people here would could jump all over that
possibility!). I implied that all OS's were having problems, not just Vista.
Sorry.
I'd still try memory timings and if it ends up stable at a speed that it not
what was bought, return it for better quality RAM.
 
Vaanoor said:
Ah - My mistake....I read too much into his post. With Vista, XP and
Ubuntu
the 2 gigs work fine, but with the 4 gigs, only Vista is screwing up, XP
and
Ubuntu run fine (oh god, there are people here would could jump all over
that
possibility!). I implied that all OS's were having problems, not just
Vista.
Sorry.
I'd still try memory timings and if it ends up stable at a speed that it
not
what was bought, return it for better quality RAM.
Click to expand...

I doubt that if it works for other OSes it is a quality RAM issue. Since he
has a Ubuntu CD, just run some memory tests for awhile. Memory problems
will show if they exist if you let it run for a few hours.

Most likely, Vista does not know how on that BIOS/hardware to reassign
memory blocks for I/O and BIOS properly ramping down from 4G. Could be some
BIOS setting, maybe not. Someone suggested calling Microsoft support and
opening a case, I thought that was a good idea as I would bet they have seen
this issue before as many others have had problems with a full 4G of RAM and
Vista 32 bit.
 
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